Bathroom seats and footstools are well-known in the prior art. For example, Tones teaches a shaving foot support for use in a bathtub or shower in U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,926. In this reference, a four-legged foot-support with a contoured recess for a foot is shown. The recess helps prevent the foot from slipping while the bather is shaving a leg. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,723 by Stanek, a portable shower stool with a storage compartment is disclosed. In this reference, a four-legged structure is provided with compartments for storing shaving and bathing supplies. This shower or bath stool has non-skid legs and a moveable seating surface with storage space within the structure. Another example of the prior art in the field is the invention of Sultzbaugh as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,528. In this reference, a rigid, triangular foot rest for use in a shower is taught. The invention comprises an elongated body portion with a cross-sectional shape of a triangle for convenient placement of the support device in the corner of a shower. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,070, Soma discloses a leg shaving plate that is mounted in the corner of a shower stall as a fixture. The shaving plate body has a downward inclined foot portion of 15 to 20 degrees for receiving the foot of a person shaving a leg. Another example of prior art in the field is U.S. Pat. No. 7,310,837 by Reynolds et al. In this reference, Reynolds teaches a bathtub or shower seat that is formed to fit around the side wall of a bathtub. In one embodiment, the Reynolds invention disclosure teaches of a screw-type clamp for securing the seat to the sidewall of the bathtub. Yet another example of bathroom seats and footstools is U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,844 by Mace. Here, Mace teaches of a removable seat that may be mounted in a bathtub. The seat is adjustable in height to accommodate a variety of users.
The above-described references are representative of inventions designed for meeting the objective of providing comfortable seating or leg or foot support in a bath or shower environment. However, the prior art is lacking in any disclosure of a seat or foot rest that provides cushioned seating support while offering the safety feature of surface-gripping action. Further, the prior art fails to disclose a bath or shower seat that offers substantial planar contact with a variety of surfaces. In addition, the prior art is deficient in any teaching of a bath seat or leg support that offers the cushioned seating and surface grip support regardless of the orientation of the seat.
There exists a need in the art for a shower or bathtub seat that provides the comfort of cushioned seating while also offering the safety feature of surface gripping action. There further exists a need in the art for a shower or bathtub seat that provides substantial planar contact with the underlying support surface. There is also a need in the art for a seat that flexibly absorbs a user's weight for extra comfort and ease of use during typical hygiene functions performed during a shower or a bath.